The present invention generally relates to methods and machines for cutting solid and semisolid materials, including food products.
The Affinity® dicer is a machine manufactured by Urschel Laboratories and is particularly well suited for dicing various materials, notable but nonlimiting examples of which include cheeses and meats. The Affinity® dicer is well known as capable of high capacity output and precision cuts. In addition, the Affinity® dicer has a sanitary design to deter bacterial growth.
A nonlimiting representation of an Affinity® dicer is shown in FIG. 1. Product is delivered to a feed hopper (not shown) and enters a rotating impeller 10, where centrifugal forces hold the product against an inner wall of a stationary case 12 equipped with a slicing knife 14. The slicing knife 14 is disposed in an opening in the case 12 and typically oriented approximately parallel to the rotational axis of the impeller 10. Paddles of the impeller 10 carry the product to the slicing knife 14, producing slices that enter a dicing unit of the machine. Specifically, slices pass between a rotating feed drum 16 and feed roll 18, then enter a rotating circular cutter 20 whose axis of rotation is approximately parallel to the rotational axes of the rotating feed drum 16 and feed roll 18. The circular cutter 20 is equipped with circular knives oriented approximately perpendicular to the rotational axis of the circular cutter 20 and, therefore, such that the circular knives cut each slice into strips. The strips pass directly into a rotating cross-cutter 22 whose axis of rotation is approximately parallel to the rotational axis of the circular cutter 20. The cross-cutter 22 is equipped with crosscut knives that are oriented approximately parallel to the rotational axes of the cross-cutter 22, and therefore perpendicular to the circular knives of the circular cutter 20, to produce final cross-cuts that yield a diced product. The rotational speed of the cross-cutter 22 is preferably independently controllable relative to the feed drum 16, feed roll 18 and circular cutter 20 so that the size of the diced product can be selected and controlled.
FIG. 2 schematically represents a longitudinal cross-section of the cross-cutter 22 (not to scale) showing a hollow spindle 24 adapted to be coaxially mounted on a second spindle or shaft (38 in FIG. 3). The hollow spindle 24 defines a circumferential wall 26 in which slots 28 are formed for receiving cross-cut knives 30 of the cross-cutter 22.
FIG. 3 is an exploded view showing individual components of the dicing unit of FIG. 1, including the feed drum 16, feed roll 18, circular cutter 20, and cross-cutter 22 and components associated therewith. As represented in FIG. 3, each of the feed drum 16, feed roll 18, circular cutter 20, and cross-cutter 22 is configured to be individually coaxially mounted on a separate shaft or spindle. In the nonlimiting representation of FIG. 3, the feed drum 16 and cross-cutter 22 are shown as being individually mounted on separate spindle shafts 38 and secured thereto with a retaining washer 40 and nut 42, and the feed roll 18 and circular cutter 20 are shown as being individually mounted on separate spindle shafts 44 and secured thereto with bolts 45. FIG. 3 further represents a stripper or shear plate 32 supported and secured with bolts 36 to a support bar 34. The stripper plate 32 has an upper shear edge 47 adapted to strip products (strips) from the circular cutter 20 prior to being diced with the cross-cutter 22. Slots 46 are defined in a surface of the stripper plate 32 to accommodate the circular knives of the circular cutter 20. The slots 46 extend to the shear edge 47, such that individual edges of the shear edge 47 between adjacent slots 46 are able to remove strips from between adjacent circular knives. A lower shear edge 48 of the stripper plate 32 is in close proximity to the knives 30 of the cross-cutter 22 to ensure complete dicing of the strips delivered from the circular cutter 20 to the cross-cutter 22. The feed drum 16, feed roll 18, circular cutter 20, cross-cutter 22, stripper plate 32, and support bar 34 are all shown as being cantilevered from a support structure 50 of the machine, for example, an enclosure, frame and/or other structures interconnected with the stationary case 12 and including drive systems operable to rotate the impeller 10, feed drum 16, feed roll 18, circular cutter 20, and cross-cutter 22 at the desired rotational speeds thereof.
From the above, it should be apparent that the feed drum 16, feed roll 18, circular cutter 20, cross-cutter 22, stripper plate 32, and support bar 34 must be securely and precisely positioned relative to each other, for example, to ensure that the circular cutter 20, cross-cutter 22 and stripper plate 32 do not move relative to each other to the extent that the circular knives of the circular cutter 20, the cross-cut knives 30 of the cross-cutter 22, and the stripper plate 32 would interfere with each other. As discussed in reference to FIG. 3, the feed drum 16, feed roll 18, circular cutter 20, cross-cutter 22, stripper plate 32, and support bar 34 are all cantilevered from a side of a support structure 50. The cantilevered design shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 promotes sanitation by making the components of the dicing unit readily accessible for cleaning. While completely adequate for many food processing applications, including cheeses for which the Affinity® is widely used, greater rigidity may be desirable when processing significantly harder food products, for example, frozen products.